Kevin Kernan’s Sunday humor

While we don’t often link to the New York Post around here — for good reason, I might add — every now and then, something so outlandish comes along that to pass it up would be a shame. Coming to us via BBTF, then, is Kevin Kernan’s latest on one final move the Yanks should make. That move? Sign Oliver Perez. And the rationale? To be able to move Joba Chamberlain — you guessed it — back to the bullpen. Feel free to insert a facepalm here.

Anyway, Kernan writes:

The Yankees are waiting on Andy Pettitte, but there is another lefty available at basically Pettitte dollars and that’s Oliver Perez. Signing Perez would cement the Yankees’ rotation for years to come and would give them flexibility with Joba Chamberlain.

“Putting Perez on the Yankees would be a great move,” says one top pitching evaluator. “That would be the perfect environment for him. He would be more focused there. He needs strong leadership around him, and pitching in front of a packed house, he would not be complacent.”

[snip]

Perez is represented by Scott Boras, who also represents Mark Teixeira. Cashman has a good working relationship with Boras. The GM would have to take a leap of faith with Perez, but the upside could be tremendous. In Pettitte, the Yankees will get a pitcher they hope has one good season left in his cranky left shoulder.

Opponents batted .290 last season against Pettitte, 56 points higher than they did against Perez, who allowed 66 fewer hits. Perez also had a lower ERA (4.22 to 4.54) and more strikeouts (180 to 158). Perez is 10 years younger, too, which fits Cashman’s plan of making the Yankees younger.

By signing so many quality free agents this season, it gives the Yankees a window to develop their own talent, and that is still the basis of what Cashman is trying to do. The bottom line, however, is the David Prices of the world can only be drafted when you have the top pick, something the Yankees never have. Teixeira was the fifth pick of the 2001 draft; the Yankees selected 23rd that season. And Sabathia was the 20th pick of the 1998 draft; the Yankees selected 24th that year.

I don’t even know where to begin. The idea that Oliver Perez helps “cement” any rotation is mind-boggling. This is a 27-year-old lefty who has already been on three teams and has a career WHIP in the National League of 1.43. His career BB/9 IP is 4.76. If Perez needs every game to be Game 7 of the World Series as the scout contends, then I worry for his place in any rotation.

Meanwhile, Kernan’s logic about draft picks is completely backwards as well. By signing another top-tier free agent, the Yanks would be surrendering yet another draft pick in 2009. Thus, they wouldn’t be anywhere close to a position to draft the Teixeira’s and Sabathia’s of the world. Meanwhile, losing out on Sabathia by four draft slots is hardly a crime. That year, the Yanks drafted Andy Brown in the first round (who?) and tried to take Mark Prior as a supplemental draft. The ability to pay overslot and the drive to draft smart can be just as important as a team’s position in the first round.

Additionally, a first round draft pick nets a team one whole player for development. While that player could be a huge impact player, the odds are against that happening. It’s far more important for the Yankees to keep open international scouting avenues as well.

Oliver Perez, in the end, is a mediocre pitcher masquerading as a lefty. He’ll always be in demand, and someone will always see him as a reclamation project because he throws hard. But he’s enjoyed limited success in the NL and would cost most teams more dollars and years than he is worth. Tying up a rotation spot with Oliver Perez is no way to commit to developing your own pitchers, and this is one avenue the Yanks have not seemed eager to pursue.

If I had a dick, I’d get laid.
Well then let’s do the next best thing…kill people.
/lady reacts
Oh no not you!

christopher

brian cashman: why are you taking off your pants

scott boras: because you said if the world was ever going to come to an end I could fuck you by having you sign oliver perez

christopher

he didnt mean “one top pitching coordinator”

he meant to say that while some evaluator was on top pitching it to him he said the name oliver perez.

it was just some weird role playing fantasy, nothing more. the editor totally changed the story around. i mean give kernan some credit he does write for quite possible the best fire starting kindling in the northeast

Andy In Sunny Daytona

We, in Daytona Beach, are lucky enough to have his brother, Sean Kernan, work for The Daytona Beach News-Journal. At least I think it’s his brother, they look exactly alike.

Zack

“The bottom line, however, is the David Prices of the world can only be drafted when you have the top pick, something the Yankees never have.”

Or, you know, you can use the Joba Chamberlains of the world as you would the David Prices. But for some reason, the logic just asploades his head there…

christopher

i laughed at that line – how he totally ignored the drafting of chamberlain and hughes

perez does have some upside – he is right about that – the guy is only 27, but it seems like he has been around forever and is it just me or has he lost a lot of his fastball – maybe he just has to throw softer to get it over the plate, but it looks a lot softer since his first year with the muts

A.D.

Love how he ignores the walks for Perez…just no, NL teams can have fun signing him

Ivan

You can’t make this up.

It’s funny how he brings up David Price cuz Price made his debut out of the pen, did most of his work in the pen, yet he probably still feels he should be a starter, yet Joba should go in the pen, gorgeous.

Neva mind the fact that Perez put up similar like Pettitte in a inferior league. Neva mind that Perez FIP was 4.66 in 08, compared to Pettitte which is less than 4. Neva mind that Joba is already better than Perez by a pretty good margin. So we replace the much better starter in the rotation. Is that smart people?

Plus, the draft arguement was dumb too, gee the yanks can’t get big talent cuz of where there drafted. Please, how ya think we got Joba, Hughes, Cole(yes he didn’t sign) and A-Jax. It’s called paying over slot Kernan, you know something the mets don’t do, that’s why there farmsystem sucks

Kevin

First of all, The Post has the best sports section in NY. Secondly,why signing Perez as a fifth starter doesn’t make sense to you is crazy.

And that’s only the qualifiers. Look, even if we needed a 5th starter (which we don’t), there’s like 10 free agents still available who are better options than Oliver Perez and the 4 year deal he wants. I’d rather give the 5th starter spot to the ghost of Pedro Martinez than pay Oliver Perez a dime.

He sucks. The sooner you get that through your head, the happier you’ll be.

http://actyankee.blogspot.com Matt

It doesn’t make sense because:

a) Oliver Perez isn’t very good. He’d get lit up in the AL with all the walks he gives up. 4.76 per nine? Ouch.

b) Signing Oliver Perez would be a multi year deal. Yes, he may be young, but I’ll take Pettitte for a year instead of Perez’s inconsistency.

Kernan makes mention of ERA but obviously ignores ERA+. Pettitte’s was 98. That’s below average but Perez’s was only 100. That difference is almost negligible. Pettitte did have a higher WHIP this year, though (wow Pettitte’s WHIP has been at least 1.4 since 2006. Yeesh). But still, I’ll take Pettitte on a one year deal over Ollie.

Reggie C.

If Perez does end up taking a 1 year deal in order to hit a more lively FA market in ’09, he has no business changing leagues this year. He would need to adjust and the results aren’t likely to be good.

Ideally, Perez should take a 1 year offer with the Mets and look to rebound with a nice walk year.

Ivan

Hey Tommie,

are ya warming up the Burnett signing a little bit. I guess you have too right?

Yeah, it looks like there was good reason why Sheets wasn’t grabbed, which I’m okay with.

I’d still probably do 3 or 4 years of Lowe before I do 5 years of Burnett, though.

Ivan

I disagree.

While I am against the Burnett signing, if I was gonna give money to a pitcher it might be Burnett. Lowe is a solid pitcher but again is he that much better Pettitte? Not to me, and also with Burnett is this, I’ll be fair, the guy has the top 3-5 best pure arms in baseball and has the potential to be great or at least really good.

Lowe is not gonna get anybetter and is basically gonna be steady, which is nothing wrong with that but for the money he was asking it wasn’t worth it.

That, and the fact that Derek Lowe has a much longer track record of health and has actually been the better pitcher than A.J. Burnett over the past 4 years.

Burnett FIP
2005- 3.11
2006- 3.79
2007- 4.33
2008- 3.45

Lowe FIP
2005- 4.16
2006- 3.68
2007- 3.97
2008- 3.26

Lowe was cheaper, required a shorter contract, healthier, and probably even a better pitcher. Yes, I know that he was pitching in the weak NL West and Burnett was pitching in the big, bad AL East. But he was so much better than his peers over that stretch, I’m willing to take the risk, particularly since Burnett has numerous risks of his own.

Lowe on a 3 or 4 with an AAV south of 15M >>>>> Burnett on a 5 with an AAV of 16.5M

Steve O.

It looks like Lowe is looking at about half of what Burnett got. Lowe could potentially be a steal in an offseason where there will be many. Let Boras work his magic.

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

I’m coming around on it, but the deal is still two years too long. The Yanks can afford it though.

At least there’s the potential that he’ll be great. You don’t get that with Lowe.

Ivan

Im warming up a little, but mainly cuz I have too but I will say this, Burnett has the stuff to be awesome.

If you’re waiting on him to discover his “potential”, you’ve been waiting a damn long time.

MikeD

Ben, well said.

If Perez was a non-roster invite that would be fine, but he’s not, he’s a free agent. He’ll cost too much money, as well as draft prospects, for his over-hyped talent, all in the NL. Worse, he’ll tie up a rotation slot that should go to Phil Hughes either in ’09 if Andy doesn’t return, or ’10 if he does. Or, just as bad, we’re doing this to replace Joba’s excellent pitching with Perez’s?

isax

Joba’s excellent pitching and injury risk. I agree that Perez is not very good, walks too many hitters and gives up many homers. I also know there is a risk of him getting worse pitching in the AL. But i think that if pettite doesn’t take the 10 MM, he wouldn’t be a bad choice. It would be much better than not signing any pitcher and going with Joba and Hughes in the 4 and 5 spots in the rotation. Don’t you remember how Hughes pitched las year?, Don’t you remember that both him and Joba have been injured, and could get injured again? If the yankees dont get anyone else, if hughes struggles, like he did last year, they wont have many options, and if Joba gets injured too, they will have a mess. Hughes, kennedy and aceves could get their chance if Joba and/or Burnett get injured, wich should be expected.

Reggie C.

Perez is 27 years old. He’d be the 5th starter on this team. With one of Hughes, Aceves, Kennedy likely to contribute something of worth in ’09, we have no business locking that 5th spot with a NL walk machine … i don’t care how well he pitched against us.

Reggie C.

i forgot to add that Perez being 27 is great for him … but not ideal for this market b/c he’s likely not getting more than 3 years. Which is too bad for him. Perez is a good candidate to take a 1 year deal and hit the market next year when money around baseball is freed up.

Steve S

I dont think he understands that the Yankees still have a belief in Phil Hughes so at this stage they prefer Pettitte because he allows them the flexibility to develop Phil this year and slot him in real easy next year.

All that said, its not the worst idea in the world, just the wrong fit and the wrong reasoning- Joba to the bullpen. Perez has shown flashes of brilliance and he is only 26 years old. It seems to me he was a victim of the Pirates mishandling him when was 22 so you just don’t know if the guy will ever get any consistency. I still think he was the better investment than Burnett, especially now that its become clear that he will be significantly cheaper and will be a shorter commitment. I think when you sign a guy like him, you are gambling on your coaching staff and their ability to make some small changes that will make the guy better. If that guy signs with Cardinals, Duncan makes him a 15-20 game winner with a much better whip. I just dont know if the Yankees have the coaching staff, and its not because of anything they did last year, its just they are brand new and there is no way to know.

Jake K.

Perez has had three years of 73, 72 and 67 ERA+. That’s below replacement level. It’s reasonable to expect IPK, let alone Hughes, to surpass that next year.

Steve S

Was this in response to my comment? I dont disagree that Hughes or IPK could be as good and I think I kind of implied that with my comment for Hughes being developed. And thats cherry picking on the stats. He also managed an ERA+ the last two years of 100 and 120. Granted in a lesser league but those are the results. I just think that the investment in Burnett was a poor one in light of where the market is for a guy like Perez. Its not that big of an argument or a glaring mistake but its something to discuss.

Jake K.

I wasn’t arguing with you. I’m just saying Perez’s moments of brilliance are negated by equal moments of putridity.

I’m just saying Perez’s moments of brilliance are negated by equal momentslonger and more pronounced stretches of putridity.

Fixed.

christopher

the loss of mel was very underestimated for the team. dont really notice a coach until he is gone or continously sends guys home and has them thrown out by 72 feet.

Steve O.

Oliver Perez is too inconsitent, but when he is consistent it’s consistently awful, I’m sure Phil Hughes could have at least half a run better in ERA. This article is almost as ridiculous as the Joba to the pen article from Bats blog. Almost.

http://poormansanalyst.wordpress.com/ dan

Why does he say Chamberlain should be in the bullpen as if the Yankees are reluctant to put him in the rotation. He’s in the rotation because he’s an awesome starting pitcher, not because they have a need to put him there. Why don’t we just put Pedro Martinez, Adam Wainwright, David Price, Derek Lowe, and Curt Schilling back in the bullpen where they belong. By the way, Sandy Koufax had a career 3.33 ERA out of the bullpen, with more K’s than innings pitched.

christopher

ahhh i forgot about pedro and tommy lasorda having him traded for delino deshields because he was too small to pitch out of the pen.

the guy only became possibly the most dominant pitcher in baseball history

i wonder what lasorda would do with joba

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

If the choices are Andy Pettitte at 1/16 or Oliver Perez at 3/39 … that’s a no brainer.

Thanks for mentioning Andy Brown. I still froth at the mouth every time I think about the Yankees drafting him in the first round as the next Dave Winfield. All they had in common was that bother were 6’6″ tall. Brown was, without question, the worst minor league player I ever saw (he was at Staten Island at the time).

christopher

with 66 fewer hits allowed and 22 more strikeouts it makes you wonder how a pitcher in the NL only bested petitte in ERA by a third of a run

hmmmmmmmmm makes you wonder

whozat

It’s almost as if there were some other way that a batter could be allowed to WALK to first BASE. ON BALLS thrown by the pitcher that aren’t put in play…

christopher

can that really happen? i usually only read the post – they never speak of such things

Bottom of the cliff, meet Diasuke. Diasuke, bottom of the cliff. You two kids play nice.

christopher

i wish i thought the same way, but its like this guy has the luck of the irish on his side. is dice-K an irish name? maybe its the boston thing

i think the guy is going to get better. i could totally be reading him wrong but it seems that he wlks guys more becaue he is nibbling than being overly wild. if he calms it down – i dont see him ever eliminating it – i see a lot of david cone in him from his yankee days

http://actyankee.blogspot.com Matt

He gets out of trouble with putting so many guys on because doesn’t give up many hits (only 6.87/9, best in the league) and strikes out a lot of dudes (8.27/9, 5th in the league). Hopefully, those trends reverse.

I’m not ready to move Bush out of that “not a good NFL player” category.

Until he can prove that he can run the ball, or they give him #85 and move him to WR fulltime, his ceiling right now is somewhere in the Dave Meggett/Mel Gray/David Patten stratosphere. Which is good, but not #2 pick in the draft good.

Ivan

understanable. He’s one of those players/RB’s who can do almost anything except the one thing his job description is most specific about, which is run the football.

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

And the Texans got killed for passing on him. Maybe these front office types know what they’re doing after all.

he was right about derek lowe though – he could swing the balance in the NL East although i get the impression with the mets that whoever they sign they will still choke it away – it has only been 2 bad years, but they were historically bad back to back years – like NY Jets bad

Wow, tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside, can copy and past a list. A chimp can do that. Unforturnalty you wouldn’t understand any of the statistics which back up that list. I’ve read a lot of forums, but you are easily the dumbest poster on any of them, and the least informed.

come on man – you know that oliver is better than almost any guy on the list – he’s like ricky vaughn –

get him a pair glasses with the skull and crossbones in the middle – chant wildthing when he enters the game (because joba couldnt because he got hurt after throwing more than 2 innings in the first game of the year)- you know how good he gets in big games like the indians vs. the yankees – i can just see girardi calling for the lefty with the game tied and big papi up – the music blasting away playing wild thing with a big fat lady singing wild thing and a little girl with tinsel hair dancing on the red sox dugout and a determined alex rodiriguez coming to the mound with the knowledge that the night before oliver banged madonna in a 4 way with a dolphin and a midget telling oliver, “Stike this Mother Fucker Out”

and with the stadium rocking Oliver throws a pitch that goes over ortiz’s head and knocks the fat lady over into the little girl while the ball goes flying into the stands allowing both runners to move up 2 bases giving the sox a 4-3 lead.

you see tommie – you dont need silly statistics to make a point. Just do what the post and kevin does and make up an amusing story and say it came from a high ranking baseball official with knowledge of the situation

It’s not even that I dislike Chad (I do), it’s that the MSM has been shoving him down our throats all season long.

Oh, the evil, heartless Jets pissed on the great Chad Pennington because they were in love with Favre, and now they’re getting their just desserts because Favre is mean and crappy and Chad is so awesome and so gritty and gutty and he’s cool and look at how he singlehandedly saved the Dolphins and blah blah blah.

It’s all BS. To paraphrase Denny Green, Chad is what we thought he was: a decent NFL QB good enough to win some games and get you in the playoffs, but not a championship QB. Jet fans don’t regret the decision one bit, even after seeing the results of the season and even if Brett is one-and-done (which it looks like he is).

We weren’t winning the Superbowl with Chad. (Neither will Miami). We probably weren’t winning the Superbowl with Brett either, but it was worth the chance.

Ivan

I agree.

I was neva Chad Pennington fan. My friend who was a Jet fan use to get mad when I diss chand and etc. To think people thought he was gonna be the second comming or Montana.

Besides, guys like Chad and Pedroia are guys the media LOVE. Guys who lack true talent make up for it with grit, guts, and heart and all that other BS.

http://actyankee.blogspot.com Matt

Pedroia is a better baseball player than Chad Pennington is a football player.

Also on your point, the same thing could be said for Derek Jeter and all his “intangibles” that everyone likes to harp about. If Jeter weren’t a Yankee for his whole career, he wouldn’t be talked about nearly as much as he is.

christopher

true, but sometimes his being a yankee has taken away from his brilliant career – i still think it cost him the MVP because he played with other guys who had great years although in sportswriter’s fantassy land a team can have 2 of the top 3 most valuable players in the league which has to be one of the dumber tings i have seen from the writers (that’s saying a lot). how can you be the most valuable player to your team when there is someone else on your team held in such high regard – obviously by the voting the writers themselves dont believe pedroia carried the team which is what an mvp should do.

sorry about that (still stings) but back to jeter. of the three big shortstops he is the only one still at SS – granted AROD moved by choice, but that is still very impressive. yes, his defense has slipped, but he is still capable of playing the position and unless last season was the beginning of a down trend he has an outside shot at challenging rose’s hit record and will barring a catostrophic injury have 3000 hits in his career.

and i think so much of his intangibles is made because he made some amazing plays and had many clutch hits and 3 super clutch homeruns that i can think of on national tv. he got the reputation early in his career and it has stuck with whether or not it should have is debateable, but he is hurt by yankee bias as much as he is helped by it

Abe

You watching the history channel by any chance?? Or did you actually know Schadenfreude?

Andy Brown was a risk worth taking. Teams were all over him. It took the allure of the Yankees and the big bonus to keep him from his full ride at Michigan.

Extremely intelligent kid, Gatorade National Player of the Year, big bat, solid pitcher. The mistake was that the Yanks should have tried using him in the pen when it was clear his bat wasn’t going to make it in the bigs…

A quote from the NYTimes when Brown was selected:
Brown, 18, is a left-handed hitting outfielder who runs surprisingly well for someone 6-7, said a scouting executive from another club. ”He’s got a great swing — quick to the ball, long in his finish, and he basically has no stride,” said the executive. ”You don’t see many young players with swings like that.”

Other teams gave Brown high marks for his makeup, as the Yankees did. ”We think he’s going to get the maximum out of his talent, because of his makeup,” Cashman said. ”He’s got a chance to be a well-above average hitter.”

Ivan

Watching Miami and Baltimore play today is like watching the Knicks and Heat play during the 90’s: No Regard for offense and too much regard on D, thus making the game well blah, well unless you was a Knick fan.

Jeez, I haven’t played that game in months. Just goes to show you how good of a game The Show is, I’m still playing it daily. Hell, I just joined an eight-team, online league (as the Dodgers) from Operation Sports.

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

I just got GTA4 the other day, so it’s still new to me. I just saved Roman from the warehouse.

Meh, I won’t disagree with you. I liked the players he added to our team that made us competitive, like Bryan Cox and Vinny Testaverde, but he left us in cap hell and wasted countless draft picks on bums like Scott Frost and Alex Van Dyke.

He’s not a bad coach nor a bad GM, but he’s not the savior he’s made out to be.

But it only lasts one year. Schedules get tougher, offensive gimmicks get adjusted to and neutralized, injuries resurface, league average vets get exposed, lucky bounces bounce the other way, and you’re right back to mediocrity.

A.D.

that and Brady going down, if he’s healthy, they loose both to the Pats and they likely don’t win the division.